by Paul Schingle

Created on: December 14, 2008

America prides itself on being a land of rugged individuals. It's supposed to be the ideal place in all the world where the citizenry is "free" to choose. With the right to individual choice comes individual responsibility. However, depending on your ideological viewpoint, there comes a point where the government has to legislate to make things "better for the greater good." With government oversight, individual freedoms are often forfeited. Again, depending on one's ideological stance, these forfeitures are there for our safety or for the promotion of "fairness" to all. It seems that if an individual identifies with one of the two most common ideologies (Liberal/Democrat vs. Conservative/Republican) (s)he is willing to give up some freedom in order to gain some other ideal living standard. In either situation, a case could be made that the "ideal" America can't exist.

The conservative view states that the government should stay out of the hair of the business community. A true capitalist society will take a "laissez-faire" attitude toward the business sector. New and innovative businesses can thrive by providing goods that consumers want. The "free market" will control quality and service by natural selection. If a business provides a good/service that the consumer will flock to at a fair and reasonable price, it will survive and thrive. If the business provides a sub-standard product, or prices itself out of the market, it will naturally fail. To the conservative, government intervention and taxation will only stifle growth and innovation. To a degree, this can be true. But, looking at our financial markets and the current state of our economy, we can see and (hopefully) live through what happens with little or no government oversight. Further, to listen to conservatives, they don't seem to mind government oversight when it comes to our "safety." George W. Bush and his current regime have decided to ignore the constitution and use wiretaps without court orders for persons believed to be involved in "terrorist plots." Conservatives don't seem to mind government intervention if they see some "moral" decline needing oversight. (Abortion would be the classic example).

Even though my views lean to the left, I have to point out the inconsistencies with the liberal view. A liberal tends to tell the government to but out when it comes to "morality" issues such as abortion. They willl claim that it is the woman's body and her individual right to choose what's best for

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